1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to the field of portable electronic devices. In particular, it relates to portable telephones which unfold for use as radio headset receivers, communications head sets, or portable terminals.
2. Background Art
Portable passive electronic devices such as an AM/FM radio or a cassette player are well known. Compact entertainment devices have been used by individuals desirous of having the availability of music while engaged in outdoor activities such as walking, jogging, etc. Early portable entertainment devices used a larger main unit with a radio receiver and/or tape player which attached to an individual""s belt or clothing. These devices typically have a separate headset which is attached to the main unit via wires.
More recently, self contained headsets such as those typified by the xe2x80x9cWalkmanxe2x80x9d (TM) headsets commercially available from SONY corporation have become popular. These units are lighter in weight than previous units. As a result, a user can comfortably wear this type of headset without the inconvenience of the heavier separately carried units discussed above. In particular, the user does not have to be concerned about accidentally becoming entangled with the headset wires, thereby disconnecting the headset.
Other portable active electronic devices such as cellular telephones, intercoms, walkie-talkie devices, CB radio, etc. are also well known. These devices allow a user the benefit of communicating while traveling or engaging in outdoor activities. These devices have many of the drawbacks of earlier entertainment devices in that they are inconvenient to carry. Further, when a user is engaged in outdoor activities such as jogging, walking, etc., it is inconvenient to use a portable communication device due to the necessity of having to first remove the portable entertainment units headset. Further, the additional weight and nuisance of carrying multiple devices discourages users from taking both types of devices.
While the ability to communicate often provides a user with convenience, it can also provide the user with an added element of security. For example, many individuals jog alone. As a result, they can be targets for assailants, they can become injured due to traffic accidents, or even become injured from the physical activity they are engaged in. The possession of a telephone while engaging in leisure activities such as jogging or while working outdoors can be useful for summoning help, and may be an important factor in the jogger obtaining timely help. Unfortunately, the inconvenience of carrying two separate systems while outdoors typically results in an individual choosing one type of device or another, but not both.
A factor in the overall bulk and inconvenience associated with carrying two types of systems is the redundant nature of many components in each system. For example, both a radio headset and a cellular telephone include speakers and audio circuitry, both may have LCD display panels and the associated driving circuitry, and both may have data entry devices such as keypads.
Another electronic convenience item that has been developed is the use of visual or graphic transmission devices, such as fax machines, PDAs (personal digital assistants), and hand-held portable computing devices capable of displaying graphics. While not requiring the ability to transmit or receive images on a frequent basis, it would be desirable to be able to transmit graphic information from a small portable device.
Another function provided by certain devices, such as notebook computers or PDAs has been the provision of calendar systems which track reminders and appointments for users. It would be desirable to have personal time tracking systems such as these conveniently packaged such that audio notices could be given to a user on an automatic basis.
An additional problem associated with portable electronic devices is their exposure to theft which is created by the convenience provided by their easy portability. In the past, the thief would be able to use a stolen cellular telephone until the telephone service was turned off by the local telephone company. Once the phone service was turned off for a particular cellular telephone, the thief would merely throw away the original stolen telephone and steal another one as a replacement. It would be desirable to have a method of locating a stolen telephone as soon as its possible to avoid further theft of services.
Today""s consumer is presented with a wide variety of devices, each of which provides one or more functions. Unfortunately, the consumer who wishes to take advantage of a variety of these functions is disadvantaged by the inconvenience of having to carry multiple devices. The reason for this is the particular physical configurations that many portable electronic devices have.
A problem associated with all of the foregoing technologies is that various technologies have different functions, are not integrated, and they are configured in inconvenient physical packages which are difficult to carry or handle while performing other activities. It would be desirable to have a headset that would provide the convenience and comfort of hands free operations, along with audio/video communications.
While addressing the basic desirability of having access to entertainment and communications while outdoors, the prior art has failed to provide an integrated system which allows convenient access to both communications and entertainment in a single device, that allows a hand-held cellular telephone to be converted into both a headset and an audio video display. Further, the prior art has failed to provide for automatic user notification by the system for upcoming events or appointments.
The present invention solves the foregoing problems by providing a combined communications and entertainment device in which a hand-held portable telephone can be unfolded to form a headset which allows the user to wear the headset in a manner similar to conventional telephone headsets. In addition, the device includes passive communication devices, such as an AM/FM radio receiver, and a passive communications subsystem such as a pager. The subsystems are prioritized such that one system is automatically interrupted based on higher priority system activity. The AM/FM radio would be the lowest priority subsystem. It would be interrupted by activation of either the telephone function or the pager function. In the event that the telephone function or the pager function are simultaneously activated, the bidirectional (i.e. telephone) function would have priority over the unidirectional pager function which would store received data in storage and present the data to the user when the telephone function is deactivated. The device also includes a camera and display to allow use of the device for teleconferencing or as a video phone. A speaker phone function allows the user to hear audio output while the user has the device folded into the portable telephone configuration such that audio information can be heard while the user is holding the device in the user""s hand and displaying video information from a caller or accessing graphic data from the Internet. An integral GPS receiver is built into the device to allow the location of the device to be automatically determined. The GPS receiver can be used in conjunction with the video phone function if the device is stolen by capturing a picture of the thief while the thief is dialing the stolen telephone and relaying that information along with GPS position information to local police such that the thief may be more easily captured and the device recovered.